A father who had regained custody of his seven-month-old son only weeks earlier has left the baby blind and brain damaged after a violent late-night attack fueled by alcohol and cocaine. Christopher Yates shook the crying infant with such force that doctors compared the resulting injuries to those seen in high-speed car crashes. Rather than seeking medical help, he ignored the injured child for hours while hiding in the bathroom.
Custody and Warning Signs
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Yates, 30, of Morris Road, Swalwell, Gateshead, had initially lied about his actions before eventually admitting to violently shaking the baby while shouting obscenities. The baby was born in March last year and was taken into care with foster carers. Upon learning he was the father, Yates worked with social services and successfully obtained custody, though it was noted he had the "best of intentions but underestimated how difficult he would find it."
The court heard that Yates's family were aware of his alcohol problems and believed he was drinking excessively during the assessment period. A fortnight before the offence, his family saw he was struggling to care for the baby, appeared angry with him, and was sometimes intoxicated. They urged him to seek assistance from social services but did not fully grasp the extent of his struggles. Yates said he expected greater support from social services once he had full and sole care at the beginning of September.
Deteriorating Home Environment
During a visit by a family member, they found the baby had not been dressed, the home was in disarray, soiled nappies were strewn around, and empty alcohol cans indicated heavy drinking. They also heard Yates shouting angrily at the baby when he cried, referring to him as a "little s***." When asked why he was drinking heavily after working so hard to gain custody, he replied: "I can do whatever I want."
Yates had a history of drink and drug issues since his teenage years and was known to have an "explosive temper" when under the influence of alcohol. He began telling his family he didn't think he could cope and might have to give the baby back, but he did not actively seek help from social services or the foster parents.
The Attack
The day before the attack in October last year, Yates dropped the baby off with relatives at the Metrocentre, asking them to care for him longer than planned. When he later met them, he had been drinking and taking cocaine and tried to mask the smell with aftershave. He returned home with the baby, and at 8:15 the following morning he called an ambulance reporting the youngster was fitting.
Yates initially gave one account before changing his story to say the baby had fallen out of a rocking chair. However, after his arrest, he admitted responsibility. He stated he had consumed 11 cans of Foster's lager and snorted a line of cocaine. When the baby woke for his 2am feed and was crying continuously, he put him at arm's length and forcefully shook him five times while shouting "shut the f*** up." He then placed him in his crib and retreated to the bathroom for an hour with a towel wrapped around his head to block out the sound.
Medical Consequences and Sentence
Passing sentence, Judge Julie Clemitson said: "Only three weeks and four days after receiving (him) into your sole care, you admit, in the early hours of the morning, you lost control of your temper. You were under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, you'd had 11 cans of Foster's and a line of cocaine. The episode of shaking is described as exacting the sort of force expected in a high velocity road accident. Yet it was several hours later you took him to hospital."
Due to Yates's initial lies, doctors treated the baby for fits, but a CT scan later revealed life-threatening injuries: a bleed on the brain, seizures, widespread haemorrhaging to both eyes, bruising to his chin, a faint purple mark on the bridge of his nose, prominent blood vessels in both eyes, and abrasions on his abdominal wall. For a period, his survival was uncertain.
The baby has been left with a range of serious difficulties and his life expectancy is likely to be shortened. Judge Clemitson said: "Simply put, the effect of this offending has been catastrophic."
Victim Impact
In a victim impact statement, the child's foster mother, who had cared for him from birth, said: "If we had known what we know now, we would never have let him go." Of Yates, she said: "He was the one person who should have loved and cared for him. He suffered the most horrendous life-changing injuries at the hands of Christopher Yates. We didn't know if he was going to survive but he is a little fighter. He has lost his sight now and he will be on medication for the rest of his life. Christopher Yates has robbed this little boy of the life he should have had. He needed someone to look after him. He has broken his brain, he has broken his life, he has broken everyone's hearts. All he had to do was phone us and we would have been straight there."
Yates, who has eight previous convictions, pleaded guilty to causing a child to suffer serious physical harm in October last year and was jailed for four years.
Defence and Judge's Remarks
Rachel Hedworth, defending, said: "He is unable to put into words how utterly sickened he is by his own behaviour. He was simply not equipped with the life skills to cope with the responsibilities of looking after a tiny baby. When asked by me why he didn't raise it with professionals that he couldn't cope with looking after the baby, he said he was terrified the baby would be taken from him. He didn't anticipate he would lose control in the way he did on that particular day. He is sad and sorry." Miss Hedworth also revealed that Yates had endured violence during his childhood and struggled with mental health problems.
Judge Clemitson concluded: "No sentence can undo any of the harm and distress to (the baby) and those who care about him. Their lives, and indeed yours, are changed irrevocably and forever. (He) will never live the life he should have lived, he is consigned to a life of narrow horizons and a life of being reliant on carers. This sentence is not intended as a measure of the devastation that is done to his and (his foster parents') lives. No sentence could ever be such a measure."
